Receptacle for bundles



(No Model.)

L. M. ROSE.

REGEPTAGLE FOR BUNDLES.

No. 401,071 Patented Apr. 9'. 1-889.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

LEONARD M. ROSE, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

RECEPTACLE FOR BUNDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,071, dated April 9, 1889.

Application filed November 27, 1888. Serial No. 291,978- (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEONARD M. Bosn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Laundry-Receptacles, of which the following is a specification.

Under the present system generally pra'cticed by laundries, of collecting the articles to be washed from the houses of customers great annoyance is frequently experienced, owing either to the absence from home of the customers at the time the laundry-collector calls, which makes another or other calls necessary and causes delays, or to the neglect of the customer to get ready the articles to be washed before the call of the collector, who is therefore obliged to wait at the expense of time, 850.

My object is to provide means which shall permit the practice of a system whereby the annoyances incident to the manner of collecting' the articles to be washed as hitherto practiced shall be obviated; and to this end I establish substantial and commodious receptacles, of suitable construction,readily to admit and contain bundles of articles to be washed, at convenient places in apartment or tenement houses for the accommodation of occupants thereof, or in localities where ready access to them may be had by the residents of whole neighborhoods.

It is desirable that a receptacle for my purpose shall be so constructed as to permit the ready insertion into it of bundles even of comparatively large size, and be of a capacity sufficient to hold the bundled articles of a number of customers. It is further desirable that the construction of the receptacle shall be such as to prevent the abstraction from it of bundles by any but a person authorized to collect them. My invention has for its object the provision of a receptacle for the purpose described which shall possess the desirable features above enumerated; and to this end my invention consists in the general construction of my improved device, as well as in details of construction and combinations of parts.

In the drawings, the figures illustrate in sectional elevation two forms of laundry-receptacle of my improved construction secured to posts.

A, Figure 1, is the receptacle, preferably rectangular in form and strongly made, and provided with two openings-one on its front side toward the top closed by a door, B, opening inward, and the other opening in its bottom closed by a door, B, opening outward. The door B is hinged along its lower edge to the edge of its opening, and is maintained normally closed by one or more springs, 0, secured on the inside of the receptacle, adjacent to the door B, to bear against the latter.

D is a stationary inclined plate forming a guard extending downward from or from near the back of the receptacle toward the front side of the latter and secured at opposite ends to the sides of the receptacle to render it firm.

The relative positions of the door B and guard D are such as to cause the door when opened slightly to overlap the lower edge of the guard, and the size of the passage between the lower edge of the guard and front of the receptacle should be sufficiently large to admit through it any size of bundle which the receptacle is adapted to receive. The opening at the bottom of the receptacle should be as large as the other opening referred to, and may be as much larger as desired. A bar or hasp, t, is pivotally secured at t toward one side of the bottom of the receptacle and passes across and in contact with the under side of the door B to the opposite side of the receptacle, where it may be secured by a padlock, s, as shown, and thus maintain the door B securely closed.

While I prefer to secure the door B in the manner described, I do not desire to limit myself thereto, as any form of fastening which will maintain the door closed with sufficient security will do.

In using the receptacle above described the articles to be washed, being first bundled and marked to designate ownership, are inserted through the upper opening, thereby forcing the door B to the position shown in dotted lines, and pushed inward until they rest upon the guard D, clear of the door B, and the latter being allowed to close by springing back to its normal position, the bundle falls from the guard into the body of the receptacle. As the door B when swung open closes the passage between the upper and lower parts of the receptacle, it will be seen that the only access to the contents is through the door 13', which can be opened only by the collector, who carries the key to the padlock The receptacle shown in Fig. 2 is cylindrical instead of rectangular, and is provided with a hinged door, B, in the form of a lid, the opening of which is limited by checkchains E. A shaft, q, is journaled in the receptacle at opposite sides thereof and carries on a sleeve, q, radial swinging or rotatory plates, forming guards D, preferably three in number, and which extend from the shaft nearly to the wall of the receptacle and are semicircular to conform to the shape of the latter. This receptacle also has a door 13 at its base, which may be maintained securely closed, as shown, by means of a padlock, s, or other suitable locking device.

To deposit a bundle in the receptacle of the last-named construction,the door B is raised and the bundle inserted and dropped upon a guard, D, which, being borne down by the weight of the bundle, permits the latter to fall in to the lower compartment. The arrangement of the movable guards D tends to shield the lower part of the receptacle from the upper, and this arrangement, in conjunction with the limited rise permitted the cover B, renders bundles in the body of the receptacle inaccessible for the purpose of abstraction, except through the door B.

The receptacles may be strapped to posts, as shown, or secured in elevated positions in any other suitable manner to enable the collector to place a basket underneath to receive the bundles when the door B is opened.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In combination, a laundry-receptacle, A, containing a downwardly-inclined guard, D, extending from the rear thereof part way across the receptacle, separating the latter into an upper and" a lower compartment and affording a passage between them toward the front side of the receptacle, an opening in the front side of the receptacle above the said passage, a self-closing door, B, hinged at the lower side of the opening to open inward and thereby close the passage, a door, 5', in the lower part of the receptacle, and means, substantially as described, for locking the door B, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination, a laundry-receptacle, A, containing a downwardly-inclined guard, D, extending from the rear thereof part way across the receptacle, separating the latter in to an upper and a lower compartmentan d affording a passage between them toward the front side of the receptacle, an opening in the front side of the receptacle above the said passage, a door, B, hinged at the lower side of the opening to open inward and thereby close the said passage, a spring, 0, maintaining the said door normally in the position of closing the opening, and a door, B, in the lower part of the receptacle, and means, substantially as deseribed,for locking the door B, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

LEONARD M. ROSE.

In presence of M. J. BoWERs, .l. W. Wins-WORTH. 

